Facebook Rolls Out ‘Job Portal’ Features In Australia.

A year after launching its Facebook Job posting and application feature, Facebook is now rolling out the features to 40 more countries in a bid to take a slice of the pie from its major competitor, LinkedIn.

Facebook launched its Facebook Jobs tab on Pages just over a year ago in the US and Canada, and later partnered with ZipRecruiter to help feed more job posts onto its platform. Now, the company is bringing the ability to post jobs on Pages, Facebook Marketplace, and News Feed, allowing users who are looking for jobs in 40 more countries, to find openings and apply directly within Facebook. The application process becomes very easy as Facebook auto-fills data directly from a user’s profile, but one can always edit and submit custom information. Messenger can be used to set up job interviews etc!

The features have now rolled out on iOS, Android, and desktop, and users can now use the Jobs dashboard on the sidebar or on the mobile app’s More section, to find the jobs they’re interested in. Facebook’s jobs features take over where LinkedIn left off so to speak, in the sense that they cater to small businesses mostly. As VP of Local at Facebook, Alex Himel explains: “One in four people in the US have searched for or found a job using Facebook, but 40% of US small businesses report that filling jobs was more difficult than they expected. We think Facebook can play a part in closing this gap.”

Facebook will attempt to “close the gap” for lower-skilled “blue collar” job applicants who would more likely be looking for jobs on Facebook, rather than LinkedIn. Its features help easily connect these applicants with mostly small businesses looking for people who can apply for jobs in only a few clicks. One characteristic example Himel mentions in the post announcing the rollout is the following:

“Troy, the owner of Striper Sniper Tackle in North Carolina had trouble finding people with the specific skills he needed until he posted the job on his Facebook Page. He received 27 applications immediately, and hired 10 people”

In another example, “Ben, operations manager at Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park in Illinois, received more than 200 applications, and filled 11 positions in one week.” He explained that his business “had more of the right type of candidate apply through Facebook… It was also much easier to look through applications on Facebook,” he said. “It was easier for candidates to complete job postings” on Facebook.

Facebook has invested more than $1 billion “to help local businesses grow and help people find jobs” since 2011. In 2018 the company plans to invest at least the same amount “in more teams, technology, and new programs.” After all, “when businesses succeed, communities thrive.”